Lithuanian Bank to Decide on Snoras Restructuring on Nov. 24

Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- AB Bankas Snoras’s state-apointed
administrator will release its final report on the alternatives
for the bank’s restructuring on Nov. 23, the central bank said.

The Lietuvos Bankas, based in the capital, Vilnius, will
give its resolution on the Snoras’s future operations on Nov.
24., it said after a board meeting late yesterday.

The government took over Snoras on Nov. 16 after the
central bank discovered that about 300 million euros ($405
million) of assets may be missing and the lender was at risk of
insolvency. Some securities reported as assets by the bank don’t
exist, the regulator said. The country’s Prosecutor General
opened an investigation into possible fraud and embezzlement.

Lawmakers approved legislation on Nov. 17 allowing the
government to split Snoras into two banks, with good and bad
assets. The bad bank is planned to file for protection from
creditors, while the government will seek an investor for the
good bank with healthy assets and insured deposits “as soon as
possible,” the Finance Ministry said on Nov. 18.

No public money will be required to save Snoras because the
bank has sufficient assets to cover insured deposits, the
ministry said. Uninsured liabilities such as bonds will receive
“a substantial haircut,” it added. Insured liabilities account
for 1.4 billion euros, compared with a total of 2.36 billion
euros in assets at the end of September, it said.